Decoherence "System I"

    When listening to a Decoherence release I swear that you feel like you are being thrown through a vortex full of agonizing dynamic arrangements that eventually takes you to an eternal galactic realm of pure darkness. This band executes an extreme metal vision that brings together nightmare inducing industrial sounds with unforgiving black metal. Their new release, “System I,” contains remastered singles and tracks from EPs which were only available previously through digital format.  

    I’ve reviewed a couple of the band’s full-length releases before and I have never found myself walking away with massive amounts of criticism. Actually, I find it extremely hard to critique this group of musicians due to the fact that they put in some much effort into their creative style of extreme music. The production quality and overall atmosphere presented on this album provides a vivid rush of inhuman brutality. “System I,” breaks down the walls of typical extreme metal music by exploring the endless voids of cosmic sounding entropy and travels deep into the harsh blackened gateways of unorthodox sounding compositions. I can tell you that there are few bands who write like Decoherence, and with good reason, because this band knows how to make everything come together for one unforgettable extreme listening experience. 

    Compared to the band’s earlier releases, I really felt like the eight songs on this new album were very profound and offered a lot to take away. The guitar playing once again transcends the typical gritty distorted sinister sounding riff approach to instead make way for guitar parts that methodically pull apart your cerebral cortex piece by piece. As with all Decoherence releases, the band builds-up anticipation on the first song by mixing together these haunting industrial sounds that help usher in the massive sounding chaotic arrangements. “Line of Force,” is a track that really explores the more hypnotic industrial side of this band’s sound, while also adding those grim black metal touches into the mix. 

    The next on the release, “Ray Spallation,” is another hellishly distorted offering of extreme sounding music. Throughout most of the the album you are presented with such a plethora of dynamic arrangements that your head begins to spin as a result of the sadistic tempo changes. Tracks like, “Gate Error” and “Non-Holistic Constraints,” convey a more ferocious side in terms of presentation and thrive on adrenaline pumping blast beats to complement the chainsaw fueled guitar attack. 

    Another tormenting track off of the album is, “Dimension Witness,” which contains some utterly ghastly guitar riffs. There is nothing simplistic and dual about this band’s presentation, so every second of this release has you possessed by the blizzard of abstract extreme metal horror. Also, I really enjoyed their cover of Killing Joke’s, “The Wait,” and I liked how they approached the song. Instead of just doing a basic cover, Decoherence brought in their sinister industrial style to create a very catastrophic atmosphere. “The Wait,” is a classic that has been covered before by punk and metal bands, however, I felt as though Decoherence did tremendous job covering it by giving the track an even more terrifying edge. 

    Decoherence’s, “System I,” is currently out now and can be ordered through Sentient Ruin. Out of the three Decoherence releases I have reviewed so far, this one might as well be my favorite. I truly respect the creativity as well as the unbelievably intense instrumental compositions. The mix of industrial and black metal with touches of other extreme metal elements proves to be an almost other worldly extreme sounding concoction that has allowed Decoherence to pave their own unique path. I highly recommend checking out this album and I look forward to reviewing the next release from this band!  

Check out the full album below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/music

Coffin Lurker "Foul and Defiled"

    Not only does this album cover scream unfathomable brutality and unspeakable horror lurking in some dark grotesque setting, but the music is undeniably deafening once you start listening. Coffin Lurker’s debut release, “Foul and Defiled,” is just the right type of slow grave defiling death doom one would expect to be released through Sentient Ruin. 

    Coffin Lurker consists of Maurice De Jong (Gnaw Their Tongues, Cloak of Altering, De Magia Veterum, Dodenbezweerder) and Rene Aquarius (Cryptae, Dead Neanderthals, Imperial Cult, Plague Organ), which explains why this band is such an insidious sounding force to be reckoned with throughout the album. These musicians from the Netherlands prove to deliver what death doom fiends desire most, which is an album containing monolith sized riffs soaked in a foul and hideous cloak of agonizing distortion. The drum parts on this album add to the apologetic crushing nature that these musicians present with such sickening aggression. 

    I’ll be honest and admit that some death doom bands can get stuck hammering out the same monotonous riff until I decided enough is enough and I eventually stop listening. Luckily with Coffin Lurker I never felt that way when listening to the five tracks on this release. From the first song, “Crypt Within a Crypt,” until the last bludgeoning piece of music titled, “Cadaverous Odor,” the band delivers a true behemoth in terms of extreme creativity. On the song, “Of Suffering,” you feel as though you are drowning in a sea of grotesque human remains and the world around you slowly begins to fade as you sink deeper into the putrid abyss. The ritualist drum parts provide a sinister and primitive rhythmic backbone to the suffocating distorted environment. 

    Midway through the album the band unleashes a couple horrific sounding and musically agonizing pieces of music. “Suspended Animation” and “Sacrificial Chalice,” are both extremely sickening sounding pieces of sanity shredding music. I was left paralyzed with fear as the band moved through the swampy death doom landscape and conjured up such nightmarish sounds. The final song off of the album, “Cadaverous Odor,” is similar to the other two tracks just I mentioned, but with an even more raw and aggressive edge. The walls around you begin to shake with the haunting tones of unfathomable decimation, thus leading to a wasteland where all that once stood has now turned to ruins. 

    Coffin Lurker perfectly blends together bone chilling doom metal with raw abrasive sounding death metal to offer listeners one punishing extreme metal release.They could have easily done the same cheap sounding death doom album as every one else these days, but Coffin Lurker contains a couple creative extreme metal visionaries who decided to record something that truly captures the vicious spirit of unapologetic artistic creativity. Sentient Ruin sure found yet another gruesome sounding release to bestow upon the metal world and I sure as hell can’t wait for what Coffin Lurker has in the works! 

Check out the song "Of Suffering" below! (Also, album comes out June 7th, 2021) : 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp: 

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/foul-and-defiled

Archangel A.D. "Casus Belli"

    Up and coming thrash fanatics Archangel A.D. are preparing to unleash a fierce sounding heavy metal assault upon the metal world with the release of their new album, “Casus Belli.” Formed around 2015, this young group of passionate metal maniacs from Edinburg, Texas take their extreme music making talents to the next level and offer up an album full of blistering sounding thrash. 

    Now, I have come across this band before and I actually reviewed their debut EP back when it was first released. I remember hearing a group of young and hungry metal musicians who were trying to craft a merciless thrash metal sound. Also, I was really impressed by how this band took their time to write some clever compositions. On this new album Archangel A.D. has definitely become more polished in terms of songwriting, and the album’s overall production is very impressive. You hear the band add more dynamic compositions and throw in some different musical elements in attempt to show listeners how they are not just another one-dimensional worship thrash band. 

    The album contains nine tracks and I believe listeners will be able to take away a lot more than just simple repetitive palm muted riffs and generic thrash metal arrangements. For example, the band hits hard with the opening track, “Bet on Death,” which does a tremendous job getting the adrenaline flowing by throwing down a heavy dosage of headbanging riffs. On the second track, “Casus Belli,” the band starts to mess around with different tempos and I like how they transition between the different arrangements throughout the song. Also, the lead guitar playing is extremely fluid and gives the song an extra boost of vibrant sounding energy. 

    I have noticed over the years that a fair amount young thrash bands tend to get caught up in the speed war and end up writing very sloppy riffs. Archangel A.D. seems to be very aware of when to turn up the heat and when to lay down a slower sounding riff to complement the singer’s high energy vocal parts. Songs like, “Beacons” and “Celestion,” flow with a wicked sounding synergy that perfectly gets the job done. Even though this type of thrash metal sound has been hammered out quite often over the years by numerous bands, I like how Archangel A.D. injects such raw energy into their sound to give it that little extra something to help them stand out. 

    Songs that didn’t fit the typical thrash metal mold like, “Pluto-s Lament” and “Sangre de las Montañas,” were great additions and showed the creative mindset that seems to thrive within this band. The atmospheric sounding instrumental piece, “Pluto-s Lament,” was one of my favorite tracks and it allowed the bass player to have a certain amount of freedom to explore this vast musical landscape with plenty of free space to add some pleasant sounding bass riffs. 

    In the end, I was impressed by how much Archangel A.D. has grown as a band since their debut EP. This is a band that does not sit around and expected the metal world to just hand them everything because they play badass sounding thrash metal. These musicians are dedicated to their craft and “Casus Belli,” is a call to all metal fans around the world that Archangel A.D. is a band ready to make an impact. Honestly, it brings me great joy to see a band continue to triumph and improve with each new release. I hope Archangel A.D. continues to waive the thrash metal flag for many years to come! 

Check out the video for the band's 2019 single "Eventide" below (Also the new album drops July 23, 2021): 

Archangel A.D. Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ArchangelA.D

Ritual Abuse Hysteria “Le Satanisme et la Magie”

   A new malevolent power is rising in the world of extreme music! Ritual Abuse Hysteria is a newly formed extreme music label located in the Bible Belt of the United States that looks to promote blasphemous and vicious up and coming acts. 

   The label’s debut compilation release, “Le Satanisme et la Magie,” features six sinister sounding bands that all share a passion for spreading darkness through extreme metal music. I find it rather amazing that this label was able to bring together such fearsome sounding acts. It goes to show you the hard work and determination from people involved in the underground metal community who have done a tremendous job promoting talented up and coming artists. I’ve never heard of any of these bands before, but after listening to this entire compilation, I really look forward to what they have to offer in the future. 

   Each band contributed two songs to the compilation, which I thought was a great way to give listeners a little sample of what they artists have to offer in terms of extreme musical creativity. Glyph is the first band I want to talk about especially since they begin the compilation off with a killer song called, “Of the Clock Tower.” The track reminded me a lot of Summoning’s first album, “Lugburz,” and contains a very haunting atmosphere. There are plenty of intense sounding black metal riff structures as well as some blistering drum parts. The band’s second track, “Light Shall Become Shadow,” is also very impressive and once again establishes this cold and grim sounding atmospheric landscape full of raw sounding black metal.

   Maw was another band that conveyed a very raw and merciless sounding black metal assault. I liked how Maw captured the dark essence of black metal even though some might argue that this is nothing new to the world of black metal music. The two tracks they provided, “Down in the Abyss” and “Them Worming Ones,” are still very solid cuts of nightmarish sounding black metal. Sometimes you need to look past the whole originality complaint and just appreciate the band’s effort when putting together an evil sounding piece of music. 

   Reproach was definitely the band that deviated from the typical raw and harsh sounding black metal style and went for a more abrasive blackened death approach. I really liked Reproach’s two tracks, “The Bones of Heathens” and “Stone Upon Stone, Foe Upon Foe,” which I thought vividly stood out and gave this band a unique identity. The band’s vocalist is an utter demonic sounding force and perfectly complimented the savage instrumental compositions that were featured on both songs. 

   The Bleak definitely takes home the award for most avant-garde and unconventional sounding black metal band on this compilation. Talk about really pulling listeners into a void of pure chaos and mind altering extreme sounding evil! “Writhing Over the Clouds,” was an aural assault of distorted devastation that was completely out of the ordinary, but I sure respect the hell out of this group for trying something a bit different. 

   If you want corpse grinding riffs and graveyard defiling blast beats then Skorbvster is your band. Their song, “Benektelig,” was a ghastly sounding piece of black metal and the vocal delivery was utterly unholy sounding. Play that song inside a church and watch the walls begin to crumble at the sounds of this band’s monstrous sounding presentation! 

   Last band to talk about is Thumos, a band that took be by surprise because on their two tracks there were no vocals. The band provided two pieces of doomy sounding black metal riffs that also seem to lay down strong sounding skull crushing rhythms. I consider their songs to be sort of rough drafts and would like to hear them build off what I thought was a solid foundation. 

   I believe that all six bands featured on this compilation are very talented and demonstrated certain qualities that I tend to enjoy when pertaining to extreme metal music. Ritual Abuse Hysteria did a great job putting this together in an attempt to bring awareness to these new artists. I hope this is the first of many releases from the label and I wish to see the label putting out full-length releases from these bands as well.

Link to the compilation below:

https://ritualabusehysteria.bandcamp.com/releases

Rob “The Metal Guy” Rants About Youtube Reaction Videos

   Anyone who takes the time to film themselves watching a music video and then labels it a “reaction” video on Youtube, honestly needs to be put on one of Elon Musk’s rockets and sent to Mars. I’ve noticed over the years that there are too many Youtubers creating these “reaction” videos, especially people who are obviously not fans of rock and metal music. I’m sure a lot of people might ask, “how do you know they are not fans,” or “you sound like a metal elitist,” but in all honesty when someone uses poor descriptive dialogue to label a Slayer song and seems to know nothing about the actual music they are describing, then they are not fans of the band at all. If anything they just find some random metal video and believe that making a reaction video will get them clicks. 

   When you have some hipster dude who dresses like they regularly attend Coachella filming a reaction video to a black metal song, you know the world has become completely ruined by ignorant humanoids who only care about getting attention from a platform that has become a massive joke over the years. Based on my last comment you can tell that I am not a huge Youtube fan. I find that the platform has completely gone downhill thanks to the corporation running it, along with some of the despicable content creators who have gained massive amounts of ignorant followers. 

   Now, I know in the past I have advocated for more people to check out certain rock and metal bands, because I strongly believe that there are some talented artists who deserve recognition. I have dedicated most of my life to promoting rock and metal music, so I do not wish to prevent people from checking it out. However, taking a rock or metal song and filming your response is just disingenuous and makes you look like an attention seeking whore. Just imagine if I started doing album reviews for that mindless modern pop music which has turned children into complete brats who at the age of eleven are trying to act like the Kardashians. Really makes me sick, but I would never go out of my way to review it and then film my reaction. Probably because my reaction would just be me ranting and raving about how these people are destroying society. 

   Again, I do not wish to dissuade people from listening to rock and metal music, and I do not want to say that people should not do reviews via blogs, or video if they actually know what they are talking about. I am just trying to get people to understand that making a video to show your “reaction” is criminally obnoxious. Also, a lot of these people are putting on a poor acting performance and you can tell they are not being genuine when listening to the songs. Humans will do almost anything for attention nowadays and platforms like Youtube unfortunately fuel this sick behavior. 

    As someone who has spent years reviewing and covering rock and metal music, I have become just completely incensed by all this nonsense. Hopefully this trend will die off like so many other YouTube fads, but the only way to stop it is to avoid these videos at all costs and support the music critiques who truly appreciate the artists and know what they are talking about!